Odu Men Feel Like Winners

Monarchs Hope For Big Finish

February 28, 2004|By DAVE FAIRBANK Daily Press

NORFOLK — Old Dominion coach Blaine Taylor walked off the floor of the Constant Center on the night of Dec. 6 with a 1-3 record and a smile on his face.

He wasn't happy that the Monarchs had just lost a 105-102 double-overtime thriller to Charlotte. But given that he's in the business of long hauls and potential, the first couple of weeks of the basketball season were full of encouraging signs.

ODU took a Charlotte team that won at defending national champ Syracuse to double overtime and saw promising sophomore Alex Loughton drop in a manly 45 points.

The Monarchs' other two losses were to nationally ranked opponents: at North Carolina in the role of sacrificial lamb for Roy Williams' Tar Heels' debut, and a tantalizingly close decision to Saint Joseph's before the unbeaten Hawks hit the national radar.

"When I walked off the court, after not winning, against Saint Joe's and Charlotte with a smile on my face," Taylor said. "Fabulous games, but they also allowed you a little bit of faith that we had a chance."

Fast forward 12 weeks and the Monarchs have capitalized. ODU (16-10 overall, 11-6 CAA) is assured of its first winning season since 1998-99. A win tonight against George Mason in the regular-season finale at the Constant Center would put them in third place, also their best finish in the league since '99.

"I think a lot of people looked at our recruiting and our roster and our development and predicted that next year would have been the year when we started accumulating some more wins and maybe became a contender," Taylor said. "But our kids have always believed that they could compete, and I told them all along if we make a team out of ourselves, we'll have a chance."

ODU was picked to finish sixth in the CAA in preseason polls, a justifiable assessment given the roster. The Monarchs graduated Ricardo Marsh and Rasheed Wright, career 1,000-point scorers and the leaders of a team that still managed only a .500 record in conference play last season.

The only seniors, John Waller and Troy Nance, had been complementary players throughout their careers. A core group of freshmen and sophomores had to contribute.

A preseason trip to London began to iron out roles and identify leaders. Loughton and fellow sophomore Isaiah Hunter responded.

The 6-foot-9 Loughton is the hub and is ranked among the top six players in the conference in seven categories, including scoring and rebounding.

Freshmen forwards Arnaud Dahi and Valdas Vasylius have combined to average 17.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Freshman point guard Drew Williamson averages 21 minutes and has a nearly 2-to-1 assist-turnover ratio in CAA games.

"I never had visions that we could replace 'Cardo and 'Sheed," Taylor said. "There was no replacing them. What we had to do was start over and build a different type of team, and I think that's what we've done. We really kind of built a new team, but I was very conscious to make sure we integrated the older kids. I asked the sophomores to act like they were upperclassmen and they went at it."

Justified or not, the preseason expectations became a source of motivation, particularly when the coaches hung the poll in the locker room for the players to see every day.

"We told ourselves we can't finish sixth," said Hunter, the Monarchs' second-leading scorer at 12.9 points per game. "That's the same place we finished last year, and we knew we were better than that."

Hunter pointed to the Saint Joe's and Charlotte games as building blocks for the season, and the first George Mason game in Fairfax on Jan. 7 as a key moment during the conference schedule. ODU was dead in the water, trailing the preseason favorites 63-43 with 11 1/2 minutes remaining before finding a spark and coming back for a 74-71 win.

"Last year we went up to George Mason and got blown out, and we were on the verge of doing the same thing," Hunter said. "When we pulled together and won, that really gave everybody a lot of confidence."

Curiously, Taylor called the Liberty game Dec. 18 "the most important game all year." The Monarchs were 2-4 and had just laid a 62-49 egg at South Alabama. They came home and dusted Liberty 87-66, the start of a seven-game winning streak that included wins against George Washington, CAA co-leader Drexel and George Mason.

"We were at home, we got a win, we got a little confidence, we got a little momentum," Taylor said. "I think that ended up getting us started toward beating GW, it got us into a good start in the conference."

"I always think things are possible, so I'm reluctant to talk about schedules," Taylor said. "But it's sure been a thrill to watch the kids climb the ladder."

TONIGHT'S GAME

* WHAT: George Mason (18-8, 11-6) at Old Dominion (16-10, 11-6).

* WHEN: 7.

* WHERE: Constant Center.

* RADIO: ESPN/1310AM.

* TV: / on tape at 11:30 p.m.

* AT STAKE: Winner finishes third in CAA, loser fourth.

Dave Fairbank can be reached at 247-4637 or by e-mail at dfairbank@dailypress.com